Category: Unity

Demo for Saving Data/Editor Scripting

7/9/2010

I combined the topics which I talked about in recent blog posts. These three scripts save the position of a game object to your hard disk. They also read the saved route again and plot the route for you. The interface for the recording and loading is done with a custom inspector.
Just use the scripts in an empty project and follow the instructions of the video. The scripts are also commented.

"editor_movement.js" needs to be put in the Editor folder within your project's Assets folder. Create the folder if it doesn't exist.
Also, create the tag "Waypoint" in the tag manager.

Edit (07/13/10): I tweaked and improved the scripts. Download them again if you got the earlier versions.

recordingscript.js
File Size:	2 kb
File Type:	js

Download File

save.js
File Size:	0 kb
File Type:	js

Download File

editor_movement.js
File Size:	1 kb
File Type:	js

Download File

editor_scripting_and_save_hd.mp4
File Size:	78844 kb
File Type:	mp4

Download File

4 Comments

Unity3 Preview

7/7/2010

0 Comments

While I was working on a small demo about editor scripting, I noticed an email by a Senior QA Specialist of Unity Technologies in my inbox. I was lucky enough to be given access to the Beta3 version of the soon-to-be released Unity3. I will continue with my editor scripting example, but I most likely will be sidetracked by some of the amazing new features. :)

0 Comments

Editor Scripting for Data Analysis

7/6/2010

0 Comments

I finally got around to record a small example of how you can use the Unity editor to analyze data visually and arithmetically. The example is of my most recent experiment about navigation behavior. Doing all calculations of distances and angles within 3D space in the actual testing environment makes just so much more sense than just exporting data and running everything through a statistical program.
I will add a small example project of how to create some custom inspector shortly. In the meanwhile, take a look at using editor scripting for data analysis. HD and low quality videos available.

editor_scripting.mp4
File Size:	17590 kb
File Type:	mp4

Download File

editor_scripting_hd.mp4
File Size:	49034 kb
File Type:	mp4

Download File

0 Comments

Saving text files in Unity

5/30/2010

8 Comments

One of the most important things for me whenever I use Unity for any experiment is the ability to store lots of information on my hard drive. I record every aspect of the program, locations and timings of events, recordings of movements and anything that could be of importance later on. By saving to a text file, it is really easy to export that recorded information into any statistical program for analysis. I created two short scripts (using JavaScript) and a video which explains their use. Feel free to send me questions and comments.
The example in the video is only meant to demonstrate the general use of these scripts for saving information. I cannot guarantee that this is the most elegant or optimized method for saving to a text file, but it worked for me in many projects so far. You can literally save anything you want and trigger the saving process with whatever you want (Triggers, Time, Button Clicks, Quitting the application, User actions, etc.). Loading information into Unity from text files is just as easy with a very similar process. The "save.js" script handles both. With loading data into your environment it's very simple to visualize your results after the experiment (or game session) is done.

-Sebas

HD version of the video tutorial and the two Javascript scripts for download

unity_saving_hd.mp4
File Size:	29638 kb
File Type:	mp4

Download File

save.js
File Size:	0 kb
File Type:	js

Download File

saveobject.js
File Size:	0 kb
File Type:	js

Download File

8 Comments

Modeling in Google SketchUp, Walkthrough in Unity

5/11/2010

2 Comments

I finally made it and finished the video tutorial of how I created the HIT Lab NZ model. It got much longer than expected. It's around 30ish minutes in three parts and I talk about some aspects of Modeling in Google SketchUp (parts 1&2) and how to turn it into a walkthrough in Unity (part 3).
For better resolution I added the original video files as download.

2 Comments

HIT Lab NZ Model Walkthrough

5/6/2010

0 Comments

It's finally done; or at least complete enough to post it online. I had to make some modifications to the original walkthrough of the HIT Lab NZ, because it was intended to run on the 3 screens of the VisionSpace theatre as a stereoscopic display. The current version of the walkthrough is running in a standard web browser and is approximately a 6MB download (+ the Unity plugin if you don't have that already).

I only released parts of the hallway and the VisionSpace room. It is nothing but a demo project, but this can show you what is possible with very little amount of work. I finished the project in a few days after accurately measuring out the lab and taking pictures for reference and textures. Some of the texturing is very primitive and only rudimentary lighting via a lightmap is implemented. Every 3D artist would most likely run away screaming, but it's not art but rather the kind of environment I could use to simulate a navigation training or cognitive training for problem solving. I could give this to our Health & Safety Department so they can have people simulate fire / earthquake / tsunami alarms etc. It's not pretty, but useful....and very accurate. If the floorplan is accurate, this model is to scale to the closest millimeter.

You can walk with WASD or the arrow keys on your keyboard and head rotation works via moving your mouse. Right-click on the player window to select fullscreen if you like. A decent graphics card is recommended. If it doesn't run on your machine, I can send it to you as an executable or a video recording would be an option as well.

I'd appreciate feedback.
Video tutorials about the creation of this walkthrough will follow.
Enjoy!
You can find the demo here.

0 Comments

Unity + Weebly = Interactive Online Content for FREE!

4/17/2010

14 Comments

By using Unity's option to publish for Web, it is possible to turn your Unity application into an html file and a unity3d file. All you need to do is to upload both files into the same folder on a web server and voila, it just works!
By using Weebly you can now easily publish your content online in a matter of minutes. Weebly is free and just as intuitive to use as Unity. In a matter of a few clicks, you use the File-Upload element for both files (html and unity3d) and again...it just works. Use the link to the html file and link to your Unity scene wherever you want.
Here are the necessary steps:

publish your Unity content to Web Player
create a Weebly Site
create a hidden page (by choosing "Show in Navigation"-> No
Use two "File" Elements (under Multimedia) to upload Unity's html and unity3d file
right-click on the html file-link and choose "Copy Link Location"
paste this link to your Unity content wherever you like

A short description of the process can be found in this video.

Update for Unity3:
See this blog for an updated workflow.

unity-weebly_HD_Downlad.mp4
File Size:	36658 kb
File Type:	mp4

Download File

14 Comments

Game or Non-Game?

4/13/2010

0 Comments

While the IPhone world is busy figuring out whether or not the new IPhone OS 4.0 Terms of Service allows for Unity content to be sold on the App Store, I would rather focus on writing about development of 3D content for research studies.
So how does it work? I have posted a multitude of learning resources for Unity, but all of them describe the process of making games. How about non-gaming applications? What's different for the respective development processes?
Non-gaming applications span across a plethora of disciplines. These include serious games (where acquiring meaningful skills/information is the primary concern), cognitive experiments, art installations, marketing presentations, simulations (e.g. medical, architectural), trainings, information displays and many more. The use of Unity content which I am interested in usually involves the collection of data for academic purposes. I conduct studies within virtual environments to test hypotheses about human behavior and cognitive functions. By saying that, I'd like to stress that my experiences don't necessarily apply to all of these areas or even to psychological research in general; it's just my point of view, for what it's worth.

0 Comments

Unity Resources (Updated 03/22/2012)

4/6/2010

18 Comments

The overview of Unity Resources can now be found here

As promised, this blog entry is going to give an overview of existing Unity resources. I have tried to cover a wide variety of video and text-based tutorials, extensions for Unity and links to most example projects and documentation on the web. I have tried to categorize the resources and also present them in an order that should get you started in no time. Furthermore, I have spent a substantial amount of hours either absorbing these tutorials/docs completely or at least scanning through them (I haven't bought any paid tutorials except Will Goldstone's book). Thus, I believe all of these links should lead you to some form of valuable information about Unity. Thanks to all the authors for doing such an incredible job. Without further ado, my take on summarizing resources for Unity.

18 Comments

Unity for Research

4/4/2010

1 Comment

A game engine for research? How might this combination fit together you may ask? What kind of research would that be? Game research? Yes, and much more than that!

I am talking about the game engine Unity, which can be found under www.unity3d.com. I started out evaluating a variety of game engines, research tools, and modded games, but I ended up using Unity for most of my projects. Whenever I need to create virtual environments, data collection tools and even cognitive tests, Unity is flexible enough for me to come up with a solution. Depending on project requirements, Unity's competitors range from game engines like Unreal Engine 3, Gamebryo (Lightspeed), Torque3D, Ogre etc. all the way to more research and simulation-focused frameworks such as Quest3D, Virtools,Vizard, VRWorlds2, or NeuroVR. By talking about what Unity can do I do not want to discredit any competing engines. All of them have their strengths and weaknesses and for different budgets, team sizes and ambitions, different engines might be the best choice.

The reason why I want to share my thoughts on using Unity for research is simple: More and more labs around the world are conducting research in virtual environments. Unity is growing exponentially after releasing a free version in late 2009 and it compares nicely against its more expensive competitors. The more research being done and the more people picking up Unity for their work, the higher the demand for exchanging knowledge and ideas. So here we go...

1 Comment

Forward>>

Demo for Saving Data/Editor Scripting

Unity3 Preview

Editor Scripting for Data Analysis

Saving text files in Unity

Modeling in Google SketchUp, Walkthrough in Unity

HIT Lab NZ Model Walkthrough

Unity + Weebly = Interactive Online Content for FREE!

Game or Non-Game?

Unity Resources (Updated 03/22/2012)

Unity for Research

Sebas

Archives

Categories